The secret that never was

Have you ever been so excited to be in the know about something really great, and you were looking forward to being able to tell another person about “The news” only to discover that they already knew and your secret was in fact not a secret at all?

I feel that much of what we “discover” in God’s word is very much like that. We discover an aspect of Him that is absolutely amazing and we are so excited to share that aspect of Him only to discover that He has revealed that aspect of Himself all along and not just to you, but to everyone else!

In Sunday school this past Sunday, we looked at a passage that I really found incredibly encouraging and powerful that I wanted to share on the blog.

 “What man is he that feareth the LORD? him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose. His soul shall dwell at ease; and his seed shall inherit the earth. The secret of the LORD is   with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.”                 ~ Psalms 25:12-14

David starts this psalm the same way he starts many of the psalms, with a profession of His love for God. He does this not to move God but to move himself. In verse 14 of this chapter he refers to “The Secret of the Lord”.

This intrigued me because if there is a secret of the Lord, I want in on it!

What I discovered is that this “secret” was not what I thought it was.

I want to point out the first verse to this chapter.

“Unto thee, O LORD, do I lift up my soul.” ~Psalms 25:1

What in the world does this mean?

The words “Lift up” mean to raise up, yield, or make an offering of.

In my closet up on the left hand side of a shelf you will find a little clear plastic box of little trinkets and “valuable” things. In that box are cufflinks, tie clips, and things that I value. There is my dad’s high school ring and next to that you will find a little wooden stick. The stick is only about three inches long and about an inch in diameter.

That is the valuable thing.

When my first born son was only about two and a half we used to take little trips to the park in the town that we lived in. He loved to pick up and collect leaves, rocks, and everything else you find on the ground near a public park. It was a constant routine to frisk him before getting him strapped into his car seat. We would always need to check his hands for rocks, leaves, sticks and every other little valuable that this little guy found an important interest in.

He would always resist those parental purges that we gave him and on one particular afternoon he did the unexpected. As we neared the car he reached his chubby little fist toward me voluntarily and as he opened his clenched fist he said, “For you Daddy”.

 There lying in his open little palm was his “treasure”. It was a simple wooden stick that he had carefully sought out when we first came to the park and had carried around with him on all of his adventures. He was giving me the thing that was at that moment the most valuable to him. My heart jumped and I carefully tucked that stick in my pocket and it now resides in the box within my closet which in turn makes that box one that holds trinkets and “Valuable” things.

David looks to the Lord and presents Him with what is the most valuable to him at that moment. His Soul.

The Soul is composed of three aspects. It is our mind, our will, and our emotions.

This is the part that we wage spiritual war for constantly, and the only part of the child of God that the devil can fight for control (Oppression) of. What we do with our mind, will, and emotions will determine what we do with our body. Our Spirit is sealed in Christ, our body will return to dust, and that leaves our soul that we yield to Christ or the flesh.

David is saying in the first verse, “To you God I am presenting my mind, will, and emotions to control”.
Wow!
We see David’s complete confidence in God that would prompt him to readily and willingly make this offering.

“Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.”

 ~Psalms 73:24

God counseled David. I love this. When was the last time that you asked God for His counsel and then just listened?

We go to friends, co-workers, pastors, teachers, and everyone else we can think of when we hit a wall, but when was the last time we just honestly went to the Lord for direct advice? Look at what Jesus said and if this does not bless you, then your blesser needs some serious adjustment.

“ Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.” ~John 14:12-21

He is our God who is our indwelling comforter and counselor! He is there within you now as your counselor and you do not need to make an appointment. You can ask Him now to lead you into all truth, and you can ask Him now to teach you His word, and you can confidently trust Him!

 “O my God, I trust in thee…” ~ Psalms 25:2

Then we come to the secret that never was. What is the deal with the secret of the Lord that is mentioned in verse fourteen? Have we been missing out on something all this time? Yes and no.

“The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.” ~ Psalms 25:14

The word secret mentioned here is the word… COUNSEL. So you could read it this way, “The counsel of Jehovah, the self-existing God of the universe, is with those who have a fearful reverence for Him, and He will help them to understand and discover the details of His league or union with them.”

That is AWESOME!!!!

When you and I can wrap our minds around the fact that God established a new covenant with us on this side of the cross that is based entirely upon HIM and not upon us, it will change our world forever. What does it mean to have God indwell us with His Spirit? What does it mean to be redeemed? What does it mean to be IN HIM? This stuff is powerful and it tremendously impacts the way that we view, approach, and present our God to the world around us.

Will our soul be troubled here in this life?

Absolutely it will, in fact it is guaranteed. Where we present our troubled soul is vitally important. Presenting our soul to people is uncertain and in almost every case will lead to some level of betrayal and hurt. Look at the example set by Christ:

“Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?” ~Matthew 26:38-40

His closest companions on earth fell asleep on Him. He took His soul to The Counselor.

How could David do this so easily? I love this passage we are about to see:

“What man is he that feareth the LORD? him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose.” ~Psalms 25:12

This is it! This is “The Man and The Wall” in one passage! You cannot seek or receive counsel from someone with the intent to follow it unless you truly have confidence in the one you are seeking counsel from. David is saying in this chapter, “I am presenting my troubled mind, will, and emotions to you as my counselor and you are going to teach me in the way that you choose.”

Jesus said in Matthew 26, “If it is possible to go a different route that would be great, never the less I choose the way that you want.”

“God’s purpose not fairness settles the circumstances of our lives”

I sat in Sunday school absolutely stunned as Fran went through this in much more detail. I let the Word of God soak into my mind and began mediating on the passages and the thoughts that came from the meditation and I wanted to post on this today. I am not sure what is going on in your world as you read this, but I do not believe in coincidence at all. I truly believe that you are reading this post among all of the things that you will read today because God wanted you to see this. I also believe that God is waiting and He longs to prove Himself to you as the trustworthy counselor He has always been.

 

Are your mind, will and emotions troubled about something? Could I challenge you right now to take those thoughts and hurts that are held tightly in your fist that you guard so much and value as yours and look up to your Father and present them to Him with an open hand and an open  heart that cries, “ For you Daddy”

The Secret that never was, is that God has always been!

Climbing with you,

~Dan